On his July 16 radio show, host Rush Limbaugh read on-air from an American Spectator "Editor's Desk" column titled "Hugs and Kisses," by executive editor Wlady Pleszczynski, who wrote, "[B]y refusing to kiss in public, [Senators John] Kerry and [John] Edwards are displaying a residual heterosexist bias." Limbaugh then gave his own interpretation of Pleszczynski's commentary: "You get what he's saying here? ... OK, Johns, why don't you finish. Just, you know, stop play-acting, stop pretending, stop the little rump pats, stop with the tousled hair. Let's see the kiss. Let's see the smooch."

From the July 16 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH (reading from The American Spectator): "But we still have the problem of Kerry's unwillingness to kiss his Breck boy. [During the presidential primary season, Republicans opponents dubbed Edwards the "Breck girl," alluding to the Breck shampoo ad campaigns.] Supposedly, thanks to gay liberation and the apparent inevitability of same-sex marriage, the spectacle of two men kissing in public shouldn't be cause for alarm, even disapproval any more. But by refusing to kiss in public, Kerry and Edwards are displaying a residual heterosexist bias. Hugging and groping cannot obscure what remains a fundamental homophobia."

You get what he's saying here? [laughter] Uh-huh. He's saying, it's -- and -- and -- he's in his own way, what this looks like, well, why don't you just -- OK, Johns, why don't you finish. Just, you know, stop play-acting, stop pretending, stop the little rump pats, stop with the tousled hair. Let's see the kiss. Let's see the smooch. You're putting your hands on his face. He's putting his hands on your face. You're cupping each other. Well, let -- let's just -- let's just -- let's cement this.

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